Rail anchor

ABSTRACT

A rail anchor of the twin-jaw hook type is formed from sheet stock and includes a pair of planar side plates disposed in parallel spaced apart relationship and joined to one another by connecting webs at the end portions thereof.

O Umted States Patent 1 1 1111 Ruble Aug. 14, 1973 1 RAIL ANCHOR 2,217,040 10/1940 Blair 238/327 R 27 [75] Inventor: Emerson J. Ruble, l-linsdale, lll. 3lo2'690 9/1963 Fee 238/3 R [73] Assignee: Portec, Inc., Oak Brook. Ill. Primary Examiner Roben G. Sheridan [22] Filed: Nov. 23, 1971 Assistant Examiner-Richard A. Bertsch [211 pp, No: 201,368 Attorney-Emory L. Grofi' et al.

[$21 US. Cl. 238/327 ABSTRACT A rail anchor of the twin-jaw hook type is formed from sheet stock and includes a pair of planar side plates disposed in parallel spaced apart relationship and joined [56] References cued to one another by connecting webs at the end portions UNITED STATES PATENTS time 2,126,983 8/1938 Blair 238/327 R 9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figures Patented Aug. 14, 1973 3,752,397

INVENTOR EM ERSON J. RUBLE Y M4W.

ATTORNEY RAIL ANCHOR This invention relates generally to railway rail anchors, and more particularly, to tie-bearing rail anchors fabricated from sheet metal stock which is stamped to provide a unitary blank incorporating all of the elements comprising the end product and which is subsequently bent to provide an anchor having a hook formation at one end adapted to be driven into expanded gripping engagement with the base portion of a rail and which includes a pair of side plates each provided with a relatively wide depending side wall adapted to abut an adjacent cross tie in order to resist longitudinal creeping movement of the rail. v

The general arrangement and use of twin-jaw hook type rail anchors is well known to those skilled in the rail appliance art. The present invention offers an improved device including an integral body having a pair of spaced-apart parallel side plates comprising congruent planar elements disposed in vertically extending planes. The hook portion of the subject rail anchor includes a pair of spaced apart clamping or jaw elements which must be particularly formed to fit the progressively increasing thickness of a conventional rail base flange at a prescribed location in order to exert a strong gripthereon with limited resiliency or elasticity. Numerous efforts have been made in the past to provide improved hook type rail anchors and several factors enter into consideration when designing such an anchor.

Quite obviously, the amount of material required to fabricate a suitable anchor is of paramount concern, not only from the initial cost standpoint leading to fabrication of the anchor, but also in consideration of the subsequent shipping costs in connection with delivery of the completed anchor to the customer. Thus, there is a constant struggle between the selection of the amount or weight of metal as utilized in each anchor andthe specific fabrication thereof, in order to arrive atthe most suitable construction lending itself to a rail anchor having the maximum clamping force when applied to a rail base.

By the present invention, an improved rail anchor is presented which is of unitary construction and is formed from sheet metal stock, that is initially fabricated' to provide a planar stamped blank of constant thickness and including a pair of identical side plates, both of which are connected by means of a web portion. The completed anchor is achieved by a simple bending operation along the juncture lines between this connecting web and the two side plates in order to provide a box-like rail anchor comprising a pair of identical spaced apart parallel side plates defining an opening or channel extending vertically therebetween. Additionalconnecting web means are also included at the opposite end of the two side plates, which additional webs are likewise bent and subsequently affixed to one another by any suitable means such as welding to provide the completed rigid box-like rail anchor having a curved portion at one end and a terminal heel section atthe opposite end.

Accordingly, one of the primary objects of the present invention is to provide an improved rail anchor fabricated from sheet metal stock.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an improved rail anchor of sheet metal stock comprisingastamped blank which is bent to provide a box-like anchor having a pair of spaced-apart parallel side plates of identical construction.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved rail anchor of the hook type having a pair of spaced-apart vertically disposed side plates each of which includes a hook at one end providing a pair of spaced-apart jaw faces, and a heel at the opposite end providing a pair of spaced-apart rail flange engaging shoulders and platforms. I

Still another object of the present invention is to provide an improved rail anchor of the hook type having spaced-apart rail base engaging jaws providing both a pair of vertically spaced-apart as well as pairs of laterally spaced-apart jaw faces elastically engageable with opposite surfaces of a rail base flange.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved rail anchor comprising a stamped sheet metal blank including a pair of identical side plates joined by a connecting web and adapted to be bent to provide a box-like rail anchor.

With these and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the invention consists in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated and claimed.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the rail anchor according to the present invention as applied to the base flanges of a railroad rail.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view taken along the line 2-2 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a stamped blank utilized in fabricating the present rail anchor.

FIG. 4 is a side elevation of a modification of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view, partly'in section, taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a plan view of a modification of the stamped blank which is fabricated to provide the rail anchor of FIGS. 4 and 5.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIG. 1, the present invention will be seen to comprise a rail anchor, generally designated A, which is fabricated from sheet metal stock fonned to provide a pair of side plates 1 preferably of identical or congruent construction and which are disposed in side-by-side parallel relationship as shown in FIG. 2, resulting in a box-like construction producing an interior vertically extending opening or channel 2. The side plates 1, considered either singly or paired as in the completed anchor, provide a hook 3 at one end havinga curved top edge 4 and which terminates respectively, in an upper jaw 5 and a lower jaw 6. The greater extent of each side plate 1 comprises a side wall 7 extending from the hook 3 to the terminal heel section 8 and which includes a longi tudinally extending bottom edge 9.

Bearing surfaces for elastically engaging opposite portions of the base flange 10 of a rail R are provided by the opposing face 11 of the upper jaw 5 and face 12 of the lower jaw 6. The heel section 8 of the side plates 1 includes a platform 13 which is horizontally disposed and coplanar with the bearing surface provided by the lower jaw face 12 and is adapted to abut the bottom surface 14 of the rail base 10 as shown in FIG. 1. Cooperating with the heel platform 13 to retain the rail anchor in the installed position of FIG. I, is a vertical stop edge 15 engageable with the vertical side wall 16 of the rail base flange 10 and formed by means of the elevated shoulder 17 at the heel of the anchor.

A central clearance 18 will be seen to be provided beneath a portion of the bottom surface 14 of the rail base and is formed by means of the relief 19 in the upper portion of the side wall 7. This clearance 18 extends from a point below and to one side of the web 20 of the rail R to a point intermediate the other side of the web and the side wall 16 of the rail and serves to provide twin contact surfaces (lower jaw face 12 and the coplanar heel platform 13) for the side wall 7 of the rail anchor with the bottom surface 14 of the rail, thereby increasing both the stability of the installed anchor as well as the resultant necessary gripping force thereon.

Reference may be made to FIG. 3 of the drawings for a clear understanding of the blank used in the fabrication of the instant rail anchor. The starting material for construction of the present anchor comprises sheet metal stock which is stamped to provide the blank B as shown in this figure of the drawings, and wherein it will be seen that a pair of the side plates 1 are provided in opposed relationship and connected to one another by means of the hook web portion 21. This hook web includes a bottom edge 22 located at a point immediately adjacent the side plate bottom edges 9, and a parallel horizontal top edge 23 which is located in a plane which extends intermediate the horizontal plane of the two opposed jaw faces 11 and 12. The juncture between the hook web 21 and the two juxtaposed portions of the hooks 3 of the two side plates 1 comprises vertically extending end edges 24-24 for reasons which will become obvious immediately hereinafter.

Additionally, it will be understood that the opposite heel portions of each side plate terminates in a vertical end edge 25. Joining each vertical end edge 25 is a heel web 26, the lateral extent of which is approximately one-half of that of the hook web 21.

In the fabrication of the completed anchor as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 from the stamped blank B of FIG. 3, it will be appreciated that this construction is readily achieved with a minimum of labor merely by bending the integral stamped blank B along the vertical hook end edges 24-24 to provide right-angle corners along these edges while at the same time likewise bending each of the heel webs 26-26 90 along the vertical heel end edges 25-25. After this bending operation, the vertical free edge 27 of each heel web 26 will be disposed in abutting relationship as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings whereupon the assembly is completed by suitably connecting the juxtaposed free edges 27-27 such as by welding.

The modification illustrated in FIGS. 4-6 relates to a rail anchor having all of the basic components of the aforedescribed embodiment, yet presents an anchor having a lower hook profile when viewed in side elevation as in FIG. 4. This arrangement is achieved by means of an alternate hook construction wherein the hook 3' includes a curved top edge 4 that begins at a higher elevation point than the curved hook top edge 4 of the first embodiment and extends upwardly only to a point representing the highest point of the rail anchor. From this point, the top of the upper jaw S comprises a straight edge 30 extending to a free end 31 of the upper jaw. The bearing surface of the upper jaw adapted to engage the top of the rail base flange 10 comprises a biting edge 32 rather than the planar bearing face 11 as in the first described embodiment. As noted in the first form, the hook cavity C is bounded by a C-shaped cavity wall 28 and presents a configuration which is somewhat oval and wherein the major axis thereof is substantially vertically disposed, while in the embodiment of FIGS. 4-6, the hook cavity C is bounded by a U-shaped wall 33 wherein its major axis is more nearly horizontally disposed.

The top edge 23' of the hook web 21 is disposed at an elevation greater than the top edge 23 of the hook web 21 to provide additional rigidity to the anchor in the area of the lower profile hook 3'.

The application of the aforedescribed rail anchors will be understood by those skilled in this art. The anchor may be manually applied by striking the hook in the area of the web with a mawl, or may be otherwise applied by means of automatic machinery. In either instance, the twin side walls are guided beneath the undersurface 14 of the rail base flange 10 with the pairs of spaced apart jaws 5 and 6 being directed upon opposite sides of the nearest rail base flange. As the bearing surfaces 11 and 12 of the jaws begin to resiliently engage the rail base, an increasing amount of force will be required to continue driving the anchor into position, until such time as the shoulder 17 clears the bottom of the rail base, and the stop edge 15 snaps behind the side wall 16 into the position shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

From the foregoing description, it will be appreciated that an improved rail anchor is disclosed as fabricated from sheet metal stock. By utilization of a relatively thin stock as shown herein, a most effective rail clamping is achieved. Experiments have shown that a stock thickness on the order of 3/32 8/32 inches is most appropriate. The properties of heat treated steel of such thin metal section will be understood to be greatly enhanced.

I claim:

1. A rail anchor for application upon the base of a rail, including, a pair of parallel laterally spaced-apart substantially planar side plates of sheet metal, each said side plate provided with opposite hook and heel sections adapted to engage the flanges of said rail base, a side wall extending between each said hook and heel sections, said hook section including an upper and lower jaw each having a bearing surface disposed inwardly of a hook cavity, said side wall having a central clearance intermediate said heel and hook sections, a vertical stop edge adjacent the distal portion of said heel section and engageable with the sidewall of one rail base flange when said jaw bearing surfaces elastically engage the opposite rail base flange, said heel section including a horizontal platform extending from said stop edge to said central clearance, and means joining said pair of side plates adjacent said hook and heel sections to provide a rail anchor of substantially rectangular configuration in plan and including an open channel between said side plates extending between said joining means.

2. A rail anchor according to claim 1 wherein, said anchor is of unitary construction.

3. A rail anchor according to claim 2 wherein, said hook section includes a curved top wall, a vertical end edge extending downwardly from the bottom of said curved top wall, and said joining means includes a web connected to said vertical end edge.

4. A rail anchor according to claim 3 wherein, said web is integral with both said side plates.

5. A rail anchor according to claim 1 wherein, said heel section includes a vertical end edge and said joining means includes a web connected to said vertical end edge.

6. A rail anchor according to claim 5, wherein, each said side plate is provided with an integral web having 'a vertical free edge and said two free edges are joined in abutting relationship.

7. A rail anchor according to claim 1 wherein, said 

1. A rail anchor for application upon the base of a rail, including, a pair of parallel laterally spaced-apart substantially planar side plates of sheet metal, each said side plate provided with opposite hook and heel sections adapted to engage the flanges of said rail base, a side wall extending between each said hook and heel sections, said hook section including an upper and lower jaw each having a bearing surface disposed inwardly of a hook cavity, said side wall having a central clearance intermediate said heel and hook sections, a vertical stop edge adjacent the distal portion of said heel section and engageable with the sidewall of one rail base flange when said jaw bearing surfaces elastically engage the opposite rail base flange, said heel section including a horizontal platform extending from said stop edge to said central clearance, and means joining said pair of side plates adjacent said hook and heel sections to provide a rail anchor of substantially rectangular configuration in plan and including an open channel between said side plates extending between said joining means.
 2. A rail anchor according to claim 1 wherein, said anchor is of unitary construction.
 3. A rail anchor according to claim 2 wherein, said hook section includes a curved top wall, a vertical end edge extending downwardly from the bottom of said curved top wall, and said joining means includes a web connected to said vertical end edge.
 4. A rail anchor according to claim 3 wherein, said web is integral with both said side plates.
 5. A rail anchor according to claim 1 wherein, said heel section includes a vertical end edge and said joining means includes a web connected to said vertical end edge.
 6. A rail anchor according to claim 5, wherein, each said side plate is provided with an integral web having a vertical free edge and said two free edges are joined in abutting relationship.
 7. A rail anchor according to claim 1 wherein, said hook section cavity is formed by a curved cavity wall extending from said upper jaw to said lower jaw and said lower jaw bearing surface is disposed at an elevation higher than the lowest point of both said cavity and central clearance.
 8. A rail anchor according to claim 7 wherein, said upper jaw bearing surface comprises an edge at the end of said cavity wall on said upper jaw.
 9. A rail anchor according to claim 1 wherein, said side plate sheet metal is of a thickness between 3/32 - 8/32 inches. 